U.S. patent application number 14/683949 was filed with the patent office on 2015-11-05 for cushioning package.
The applicant listed for this patent is OFFMAR S.r.l.. Invention is credited to Guido MATTA.
Application Number | 20150314940 14/683949 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50928177 |
Filed Date | 2015-11-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150314940 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
MATTA; Guido |
November 5, 2015 |
CUSHIONING PACKAGE
Abstract
A cushioning package, particularly an envelope or bag whose
walls are internally lined by a cushion made of air cells consists
of a row of elongated and contiguous tubular chambers parallel to
each other sealed to the wails of the package and contains air at
substantially environmental pressure.
Inventors: |
MATTA; Guido; (Arignano
(Torino), IT) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
OFFMAR S.r.l. |
Arignano (Torino) |
|
IT |
|
|
Family ID: |
50928177 |
Appl. No.: |
14/683949 |
Filed: |
April 10, 2015 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
206/522 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 75/58 20130101;
B65D 81/052 20130101; B65D 2581/053 20130101; B65D 65/38
20130101 |
International
Class: |
B65D 81/05 20060101
B65D081/05; B65D 75/58 20060101 B65D075/58; B65D 65/38 20060101
B65D065/38 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 9, 2014 |
IT |
TO2014A000303 |
Claims
1. A cushioning package comprising: walls internally lined by a
cushion made of air cells, wherein the air cells consist of a row
of elongated and contiguous tubular chambers parallel to one other,
and said tubular chambers hermetically sealed to the walls of the
package and containing air at substantially environmental
pressure.
2. The package according to claim 20, wherein said tubular chambers
essentially have the same length as the envelope or bag.
3. The package according to claim 20, wherein the envelope or bag
has a quadrangular shape, wherein said tubular chambers are
arranged parallelly to two opposite sides of the envelope or
bag.
4. The package according to claim 3, comprising an openable side
for introducing and extracting the contents, wherein said tubular
chambers are oriented transversely to said openable side.
5. The package according to claim 1, wherein said walls are made of
paper coupled internally with a film of thermoplastic material
wherein said tubular chambers are formed by a corrugated sheet of
thermoplastic material heat-welded to said film along its edges and
along its corrugations that define said tubular chambers.
6. The package according to claim 1, wherein said walls are made of
thermoplastic material, wherein said tubular chambers are formed by
a corrugated sheet of thermoplastic material heat-welded to said
walls along its edges and along its corrugations that define said
tubular chambers.
7. The package according to claim 1, wherein said tubular chambers
are arranged in two superimposed layers.
8. Package according to claim 7, wherein said tubular chambers of
each layer are offset relative to the tubular chambers of the other
layer.
9. The package according to claim 2, wherein said walls are made of
paper coupled internally with a film of thermoplastic material
wherein said tubular chambers are formed by a corrugated sheet of
thermoplastic material heat-welded to said film along its edges and
along its corrugations that define said tubular chambers.
10. The package according to claim 3, wherein said walls are made
of paper coupled internally with a film of thermoplastic material
wherein said tubular chambers are formed by a corrugated sheet of
thermoplastic material heat-welded to said film along its edges and
along its corrugations that define said tubular chambers.
11. The package according to claim 4, wherein said walls are made
of paper coupled internally with a film of thermoplastic material
wherein said tubular chambers are formed by a corrugated sheet of
thermoplastic material heat-welded to said film along its edges and
along its corrugations that define said tubular chambers.
12. The package according to claim 2, wherein said walls are made
of thermoplastic material, wherein said tubular chambers are formed
by a corrugated sheet of thermoplastic material heat-welded to said
walls along its edges and along its corrugations that define said
tubular chambers.
13. The package according to claim 3, wherein said walls are made
of thermoplastic material, wherein said tubular chambers are formed
by a corrugated sheet of thermoplastic material heat-welded to said
walls along its edges and along its corrugations that define said
tubular chambers.
14. The package according to claim 4, wherein said walls are made
of thermoplastic material, wherein said tubular chambers are formed
by a corrugated sheet of thermoplastic material heat-welded to said
walls along its edges and along its corrugations that define said
tubular chambers.
15. The package according to claim 2, wherein said tubular chambers
are arranged in two superimposed layers.
16. The package according to claim 3, wherein said tubular chambers
are arranged in two superimposed layers.
17. The package according to claim 4, wherein said tubular chambers
are arranged in two superimposed layers.
18. The package according to claim 5, wherein said tubular chambers
are arranged in two superimposed layers.
19. The package according to claim 6, wherein said tubular chambers
are arranged in two superimposed layers.
20. The package according to claim 1, wherein the walls form an
envelope or bag.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority from Italian patent
application No. TO2014A000303 filed on Apr. 9, 2014 the entire
disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to cushioning packages, for
example in the form of paper or plastic envelopes or bags whose
wails are internally lined with a cushion of air cells.
STATE OF THE ART
[0003] Traditionally, the cushion made of air cells is formed of
what is commercially defined as "pluriball", or rather "bubble
wrap"; two thin sheets or films of thermoplastic material,
typically polyethylene, are welded together in order to delimit
rows of circular-shaped cells that enclose air under pressure. The
product thus formed is, in turn, applied by means of heat-welding
to the inner surfaces of the walls of the envelope or bag which, in
the case of paper, are in turn lined with a thermoplastic film.
[0004] This arrangement, although efficient with respect to
protecting against shock of the contents of the package, is
relatively complex regarding both the production of the product
with air bubbles, and its application to the package.
[0005] From JP-H07285581 a cushioning package corresponding to the
preamble of claim 1 is known, wherein the air cells consist of a
row of elongated and contiguous tubular chambers parallel to one
another. These chambers are filled up and inflated at the origin,
i.e. during manufacturing of the package, with compressed air. To
such effect the package requires for each tubular chamber a
respective check valve connected to a common manifold formed
transversely of the row of tubular chambers.
[0006] This known solution is constructively complicated and
additionally involves a noticeable thickness of the package, due to
the tubular chambers being inflated, and thus a relevant bulk.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The object of the present invention is to make a cushioning
package available that is appreciably simpler and more economical
but nevertheless equally efficient with respect to protecting its
contents.
[0008] According to the invention, this object is achieved thanks
to the fact that the tubular elongated and contiguous tubular
chambers, parallel to each other, are hermetically sealed to the
walls of the package and contain air substantially at environmental
pressure.
[0009] By virtue of this solution in use the air trapped within the
tubular chambers, following any deformations of the package
involving squashing of the chambers, is locally compressed to an
extent which is sufficient to provide the necessary protection to
the package content. Such a protection is thus afforded without the
need of previously inflating the chambers under high pressure,
therefore avoiding the complications, costs and encumbrance
deriving therefrom.
[0010] The tubular chambers, which essentially have the same length
as the envelope or bag and are conveniently arranged in two
superimposed layers parallelly to the two opposite sides thereof,
preferably with a transverse orientation with respect to its
openable end, can be advantageously formed by a simple sheet of
corrugated plastic material, heat-welded along its edges and along
its corrugations to the film of thermoplastic material that lines
the walls of the paper envelope or bag.
[0011] In the case in which the envelope or bag, or more generally
the package, is also of thermoplastic material, the corrugated
sheet will be directly welded to its walls.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The invention will now be described in detail with reference
to the attached drawings, provided purely by way of non-limiting
example, in which:
[0013] FIG. 1 is a schematic prospective view of a cushioning
package, specifically of an envelope, according to the
invention,
[0014] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view according to the line II-II
of FIG. 1, and
[0015] FIG. 3 is a partially broken analogous view to FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] The example of the cushioning package according to the
invention represented in the drawings relates to an envelope: it
must, however, be stated that the invention is applicable to
packages of different types, for example in the form of a bag or
the like, both of paper and of thermoplastic material.
[0017] In the case of the example illustrated, the envelope,
indicated by 1, comprises two walls 2, 3 of plastic-coated paper in
the usual manner, or rather whose inner surfaces are lined with a
respective thin film 4. 5 of thermoplastic material, typically
polyethylene. In this way, the walls 2, 3 can be joined to each
other by means of heat-welding at the respective edges along three
sides 6, 7, 8. The fourth side has an opening 10 for introducing
and extracting the contents of the envelope 1, for example
reclosable by an appendix 9 of the wall 3 refoldable against the
wall 2.
[0018] According to the unique characteristic of the invention, the
walls 2 and 3 are internally lined with a cushion of air cells
consisting of a row of elongated and contiguous tubular chambers
11, parallel to each other.
[0019] Preferably two superimposed layers of tubular chambers 11
are provided, extending parallelly to the sides 6, 8 of the
envelope 1, i.e. transversely to the open end 10 and therefore in
the direction of introducing and extracting the contents of the
envelope, essentially for the entire length thereof. The tubular
chambers 11 of each layer are advantageously alternated i.e. offset
relative to the chambers of the other layers.
[0020] The tubular chambers 11 are conveniently formed, for each
wall 2, 3, of a single corrugated sheet 12 of thermoplastic
material, typically polyethylene, heat-welded along its edges and
between each pair of contiguous corrugations, directly to the film
4, 5 that internally lines the wall 2, 3.
[0021] In the case in which the envelope or, more generally, the
package is made of plastic instead of paper, the corrugated sheets
12, 13 will be heat-welded directly to the inner surfaces of the
walls 2, 3.
[0022] The tubular chambers 11 trap therein air at environmental
i.e. atmospheric pressure, or at the most slightly higher. In use,
whenever these chambers 11 are squashed following any deformations
of the package, the air contained at their interior is locally
compressed to an extent which reveals sufficient to provide the
necessary protection to the package content. Such a protection is
thus afforded without the need of previously inflating the chambers
under high pressure, therefore avoiding the complications, costs
and encumbrance deriving therefrom.
[0023] It is apparent from the above that the cushioning package
according to the invention can be manufactured so as to be
appreciably simpler and more economical, also in terms of a lower
quantity of material necessary for its cushioning, compared to
conventional cushioning with air bubbles, while ensuring no less
functional efficacy with respect to protecting its contents.
[0024] Of course, the details of construction and the embodiments
may be widely varied with respect to what is described and
illustrated without departing from the scope of the invention as
defined by the following claims. Thus, as already explained, the
form and type of package may be very different.
* * * * *